TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

I’ve been using a Palm for reading eBooks for quite some time now - including my TX that I’ve had for about a year.

I have 2 readers depending on what I want to read:
Plucker - for reading web content offline. Sunrise Desktop does a very good job of packing up web sites for the Palm.
TealDoc - for reading and editing eBooks.

I avoid any closed proprietary formats, so when I get a LIT file, I immediately convert it to something useful - and I won’t purchase anything with DRM on it.

David,

I have been using my TX exclusively to read books for quite a while now. I have palm fiction, ereader from Palm, and Mobipocket. I don’t like the new Mobipocket desktop program. It won’t transfer my personal books. So I usually just load directly to my SD card. Also for pdf files I use the free palm pdf app. I also have Audible’s program for listening to Books. For movies, nothing beats the Core Media Player. Don’t try the ubook for palm on this one. It crashes the system. The only palm around my house that ubook works on is the Z22.

Ellen

The Palm TX has edged out my EB1150 as my ebook reader of choice due to its portability and the usefulness of the PDA functions. I’m always on the go these days and I carry the TX with me in my pocket wherever I go.

I find I use 3 ebook readers on the Palm:

1. iSilo - I use this the most. (Free version.) It has been rock solid stable and I use it to read all those nice free books at manybooks.net

2. eReader - the newest version of eReader is quite nice. On those occasions that I have to buyDRM’d ebooks I buy them in ereader format.

3. MobiPocket - nice reader. I use this to read my Ellery Queen (e)Magazine via Fictionwise. I’m not sure why I chose to use it over the others but it might be because Mobi lets me use the Chapter links and shows the illustrations where the free version of iSilo does not. It does not hurt to have another reader in reserve.

The Palm TX is by far the best PDA I have ever owned - much better than the T5 it replaced.

Two tips: I really like the Rhinoskin hard case. Also I use the Mark Space missing sync software for syncing with both of my Macs–it makes it very easy, and syncing via Bluetooth with my laptop means I do not have to carry the cable around with me. This helps me download and sync new ebooks even from free wifi hotspots at coffee houses and airports and then sync to the TX

Don’t you guys find the screen size rather small, especially when compared with that of a Gemstar? What is the physical size of the screen? Do you rotate the screen a quarter in order to have a wide screen? My Zire’s buttons are rather clunky–one time I even reset my Zire when I had to press the Next Page button hard; how sturdy and smooth does the TX feel? Should I sell my young nubile body in order to buy a TX?

>>store

Both Diesel eBooks and Amazon have WAP versions of their online stores. I have browsed both with the TX but have not actually bought anything. Unfortunately, Fictionwise is not very PDA browser friendly which is disappointing. (Aside: Bloglines works very well on the small screen. As does Yahoo email and Local Search.)

>>HTML

I have not tried to read downloaded HTML files on the Palm. I suggest converting HTML with iSiloX which is free and has better compression for file sizes.

Branko,

I cannot read as fast on the small screen, however the portability is a key issue since I often find myself in waiting rooms cooling my heels and I can slip the TX in a pocket when walking and still have both hands free. I also like the color backlit screen.

I don’t have a TX, though I do have a Z22 which I have been using for several months because I could not afford a TX at the time.

uBook is really in Alpha stage; I had intermittent success on the Z22 with it, but not enough to use it ‘in production’. I look forward to another release though; on the Pocket PC platform uBook is solid.

I usually use eReader (the paid version) for ebooks on the Palm. I also bought the eBook Studio, which will load text and html files with very few problems. I have converted a number of proprietary titles to eReader in this format and have been generally happy with the results.

I have bought some commercial titles in eReader format, as I find its DRM the least obnoxious of the bunch (since the files are not actually ‘activated’ to a specific piece of hardware).

I find the color screen, usually using blue or yellow letters on a black background, easier to read for a long period of time than the eb1150. The color enhances contrast and the black background minimizes how much backlight is shining in my eyes. The eReader software lets you rotate the text display 90, 180, or 270 degrees so you can move the push buttons to any side of the text. (I usually read with a 90 degree rotation so the buttons are to the right of the screen, holding the pda in my right hand I can use the thumb to change pages.)

I have had little success with PDA viewers on Palm devices, usually because of the poor resolution of the screen and because my PDFs are usually image-based. I really wish Palm would give us a T5 with a 640×480 screen, but that is another conversation.

I cannot backup Brad’s recommendation of MarkSpace’s The Missing Sync loudly enough. It runs perfectly on my Intel iMac and so far has worked with every piece of software I’ve thrown at it. It is far, far better than the Palm sync services that come in the Palm box.

What has people’s battery life on the TX been like? I can go for days between charges on mine, and I just came back from a week trip with at least half the battery still available.